From Chicagoland, condolences, prayers, and heartfelt sympathy to the people of Aurora, Colorado, in light of what has happened the past few days.

Kudos to those who risked their lives and gave them too, in order to save others – from in and around the theater to the first responders who entered the suspect’s apartment to perform the hazardous task of disabling the booby traps.

Certainly this is a time for national mourning and reflection. It is a time for deep thought and conscious action, for knowing what is right and beneficial and not being afraid to do what is right, proper, good, helpful and loving for others.

This is a time to show what being a good citizen means. It is a time to come to the care and aid of one’s nation and ask that excellent phrase, “What can I do for my country?” Those who have been victimized by this are asking, “What can my country do for me?” Now those who can render assistance must step up and do so.

You serve who also stand and wait; at least you are there and waiting and willing to do something for others who really need the help. Do what you can – the families, the victims, the citizens of Colorado really need you now.

Those are sick, and you visited them. It is the thing to do if you have the resources so to do.

To Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, to Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado, to the people of Aurora, stay strong, bond, come together, stand tall, be gracious to each other. Everyone is pulling for you; we are in your corner.

Now I can say “out there”, but having been to Colorado and seen the stunning scenery and met the friendly people and been on conferences and vacations there, it is far from being a remote “out there”. Colorado is woven into my being becuase of the good experiences.

I learned today that good friends of my folks could see the fire from their home in the Colorado Springs area, and two or three days ago were prepared to evacuate. I now understand they have not been heard from since that last contact. Watching the live feeds from the area yesterday I can only hope they are all right and still have a home to return to. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate because of those fast – moving and -raging fires, fed by strong winds, very low humidity, and extremely dry conditions.

Beautiful Colorado has become a tinderbox. Thick black and gray smoke bring heaviness to the air; glows from burning homes and other structures light up sections of the hills and feed that pall of horrible smoke which stretches for miles from the fire’s point of origin. Seeing the breakdown of the disaster on The Weather Channel brought home the scope of the trouble.

I can say “home”… it “brought home” to me the problems those folks are facing. There is perspective for troubled minds in the cities and towns, a wake -up call for those who have homes, provision, work and safe roads to travel. It is a definite wake -up call for us who are not affected directly by the closure of an interstate (I – 25), who have not been forced from home with only the essentials, our pets, our documents and our children. This morning I was feeling a terrible bout of anxiety, this feeling and awful sensation that many Americans feel because we are so cut off from tradition, basics, and instincts. I went home early from my job and even while walking to the bus regretted the decision to leave; had I not been so tired I certainly would have stayed on and finished my shift.

When perspective returned I realized that the basics needed involve patience, keeping an open mind, not worrying or buzzing the mind about with concerns and extreme emotions, and not trying to predict what is going to happen during a particular shift or during an average work day. It is like baseball – no game is the same, no encounter is the same, no inning is like another. Conditions are different every time, the people are different, the winds and temperatures are different. What need have we for angst, troubles, and making things more difficult for ourselves than need be?

The people of Colorado and the first responders that are doing what they can to save whom and what they can, need all the help the government and all citizens can give them. In the live feeds last night from the Colorado Springs area there were two first response vehicles coming into view in the middle of the raging smoke and burning homes. I felt pity for those crews too as they were constantly met with the sights and smells and nightmare of burning structures, alone in those dark hills, lit only by the hard glow of flames and weighed by smoke and fumes. Feel for the personnel at the Air Force Academy too, who are being evacuated as the fires encroach on that heralded institution with its gleaming chapel.

Oh pray for those who are thus distressed, who feel all is lost and do not feel blessed;/ Oh cherish your ability to think of them and pray,/ If you cannot get out to assist them literally, find then another way/ to think of them and send some help/ to a shelter where so many need relief./ Pray and give whatever you are able, something you can do without/ To bring a hand -up to those displaced, who are sad of heart and long of face/Coloradans, mired in disaster, we pray for thee, and that Christ might somehow ease thy ways with His strong presence and healing touch, knowing you need now so very much; oh let us all do what we can/ for the crying Colorodan.//